In a tragic incident, two boys, aged four and five respectively, died of suffocation after being stuck in a car for close to nine hours in outer Delhi's

Ranhola, the police said today.

The incident was reported on October 3.

The two cousins were playing inside a car owned by the father of one of the boys, said a senior police officer, adding that the car was parked near the owner's house.

The owner of the car, a taxi driver, had returned from a trip and parked the vehicle near his house.

At that time, he had forgotten to lock the car. Around 1 pm, he locked the vehicle through central locking, without realising that the children were in it, the officer said.

After a few hours, when the family members realised that the boys were missing, they started looking for them in the locality and subsequently, rushed to the police station in a neighbour's car to file a complaint at around 7 pm.

Around 10 pm, the car owner decided to go looking for his son and nephew. As he unlocked the door of the vehicle, he found the boys in an unconscious state, the officer said.

The children were rushed to a hospital where they were declared "brought dead" by the doctors. The post-mortem report said they died due to suffocation and dehydration, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Pankaj Singh.